Category Archives: Addiction Recovery

Addiction recovery

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 4th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – feel your body from head to toes.


Problem-solving


You have a problem that you find stressful and as a
result, you drink. You then have two problems, and
your mental state now renders you less capable of
dealing with either. What seems a problem to one
person may seem minor to another. Some people
welcome challenges, some catastrophise the
smallest incident. Problems, in other words, are as
big as we think they are. Yet, if we sincerely trust
our Higher Power, we can deal with anything that
life throws us. Do I trust my Higher Power enough
to hand over the problems that I find difficult?


I can choose to change my attitude to any event by
handing it over to my Higher Power and trusting it
will guide me. Then I just need to sincerely try to
do the right thing, according to my conscience. At
such moments, it can help to have a role model in
mind – someone whom I really respect – perhaps a
fellowship member. If I can’t ask them directly, I
can ask myself: what would Joe do in this situation?
There is a solution to every problem, as long as I
seek guidance in finding it. Today I give thanks for
the guidance that I trust my Higher Power to give

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 3rd by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – listen to your breathing


Doing things differently


Life is not a matter of waiting for events and hoping for the best. That may have been the state we ended up in, when our addiction was rampant, but things are different now. If we are to make spiritual progress, action is required. The process of taking positive action may be summarised as follows:

  • Have a wish or idea to do something
  • Visualise how you would do it and how that would make you feel
  • Ask for guidance
  • Commit to the action
  • Do it!
    Our thoughts, feelings and actions are all connected –we have our own personal way of doing things but we need to be sure that it is fit for purpose. Am I ready to follow a positive action plan?

Impulsiveness and thinking that I know best have proved in the past to be unsatisfactory methods of doing things. Today I see the value of taking time to consider my choices asking for guidance. I will remember that impulsiveness is old behaviour.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 2nd by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – enjoy the moment


Choices

Life is a series of choices. Some are more important
than others and then there are the big choices: what
we believe in, how we will live our lives. It is a
shame that we get so many choices wrong. Like
children, when we sober up, we must learn the
process of making choices. Most people process
choices through their value system, perhaps
subconsciously. But addiction has distorted our
values, so we are in danger, in early sobriety, of
making unhealthy choices. Our new life requires t
guidance. Will I ask my Higher Power for help?


Sometimes we are reluctant to make choices
because we fear possible consequences. Yet
hesitation and indecisiveness often make things
worse. The ancient Roman philosopher Seneca said:
It is not because things are difficult that we do not
dare, it is because we do not dare, that things are
difficult. Can I remember what it was that worried
me a week ago? Probably not. But a year from now, I
may wish I had taken some action today that I failed
to do, out of fear. I will seek help from my Higher
Power when making choices.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days October 1st by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts


Self-discipline

Willpower alone is not likely to keep us sober for
long, but a bit of self-denial and unselfishness will be
helpful. Addiction makes us think only of ourselves
and it will do us good to start thinking of others for a
change. We may need to learn self- control, starting
with the little things, like not having that extra biscuit.
It will help our self-esteem to realise that we are
making mature decisions with good long-term
results. Am I learning to make the right choices?

Self-control is a practical technique that can help us
respond appropriately to temptation and overindulgence.
When we are dealing with spiritual
matters, we would be wrong to rely on our own
resources for the right response. It is much better to
allow ourselves to be guided by our Higher Power.
This is true when we are learning to deal with other
people as well. For most of us, handling
relationships in a good way is the most difficult
challenge that we face. Repairing damaged
relationships can bring challenges that we may feel
unable to manage, unless we can hand them over to
our Higher Power. Today I ask for wisdom and self-control
as I learn to handle relationships.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days September 30th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – send positive thoughts


Mature relationships


This month we have looked at responsibility and
the need for awareness. In everyday life, the most
often-repeated challenges come through our
relationship with others. Relationships are often
difficult, but we can learn ways of dealing with
them. In recovery, we must be especially careful
because relationship problems can give rise to strong
emotions that we may still find hard to handle. Am I
working on my ability to handle relationships?


Steps Eight and Nine are when we put personal
responsibility into practice. Of course, it is
important to make amends to people we have
harmed – they deserve that respect. But, for us, this
is a moment when we really start to grow. A person
who has made a thorough and honest attempt at
Steps Eight and Nine cannot be said to be child
anymore, but rather, someone who can say:
When I became a man, I put away childish things.
St Paul, Corinthians.
Today I give thanks for the maturity that I am
gaining through the Twelve Step programme.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days September 29th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – feel your body from top to toes


Listening


To understand people, I must try to hear what they
are not saying, what they perhaps will never be able to
say. John Powell.
So many books have been written about selfdiscovery
and relationships that you might think it
an almost impossible task. Yet, only a few hundred
years ago, the great majority of people had never
read a book, but they managed to interact and live
reasonably contented lives. Perhaps they were more
attuned to their own selves and more direct in their
approach to others. Am I remembering to keep
things simple?


To practise mindfulness is to be in deep and
meaningful contact with oneself as well as with the
outside world. I must listen to the world and to
myself and feel connected empathetically to all
nature. People believe what they hear themselves
saying. Today I ask for the awareness of myself and
others that will allow me to truly listen to what is
being said, or not said.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days September 28th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – close eyes briefly


Emotional maturity


As active alcoholics, we lost our ability to choose whether
we would drink. We were the victims of a compulsion
which seemed to decree that we must go on with our
own destruction. Bill W.
Today I have the choice. I can choose to relapse and
lose my new life of fulfilment and purpose but at this
moment I do not wish to. I must take care to keep
in emotional balance because some extreme
emotion could put me in danger of making the
wrong choice. Have I made the right choices
today?


Making the right choices requires maturity. We all
have common sense but some of us have never
stopped being driven by our desires – that need for
quick gratification that a child often has. Maturity
comes from taking responsibility for our lives and
not expecting someone else to rescue us. In other
words, I must come out of the ‘child ego state’ into
the ‘adult ego state’. This is a big decision for a
child and is best achieved though taking small
steps. I ask God today for the courage to deal with
the world as an adult.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days September 27th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – sit comfortably


Spirituality


There are two kinds of people one can call reasonable: those
who serve God with all their heart because they know him, and
those who seek him with all their heart because they do not
know him. Blaise Pascal.
Twelve Step fellowships do not try to define God,
they merely recognise the existence of a ‘Power
Greater than Ourselves’. Do I accept the
existence of a Higher Power?


The idea of exploring spiritually is one that most
agnostics are open to, if only because they
recognise that some things in the universe
cannot be explained. It can also bring a deep
sense of meaning to your life which in itself, is
good for mental health generally. Exploring
spiritual ideas commits us to nothing except to
embark upon a magical journey that might just
result in bringing us more peace and
contentment. All that is needed is an open mind.
Let the Twelve Steps gently lead you to explore
spiritual growth. Today I give thanks for the
spirituality that I have discovered through
following the Twelve Step Programme.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days September 26th by Chris B

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Remember Mindfulness – relax your whole body gradually


Giving


St Francis of Assisi was born on this day in 1181. The
humblest of saints, he founded the Franciscans
(monks) and the Poor Clares (nuns) after renouncing
his lifestyle as the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. He
lived as an example of poverty, unselfishness and
humility which influenced many and perhaps his
best-known saying is: It is in giving that we receive. Can
I learn from St Francis the importance of giving?


St Francis was known for his gentleness and sense of
humour and another of his sayings is: It is not
fitting, when one is in God’s service, to have a gloomy
face or a chilling look. Smiling is good for us, and
it is very good for others to see, as well. When I
show that I am enjoying our recovery, I send a
powerful message to the world.
Lord, make me a channel of your peace:
where there is hatred let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope; where there is
darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy. St Francis.

Daily Reading from Recovery Days September 25th by Chris B

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Trust the process


‘Trust the Process’ is a phrase we often hear in
recovery. It means having faith that things will work
out alright without our supervision. People with
control issues find it very hard to hand things over to
a Higher Power. There is so much fear connected to
addiction. We become terrified that our erratic
behaviour is going to cause chaos (it usually does).
We conclude that the only response is for us to micromanage
everything. In our confused state, this
doesn’t happen, and we become over-anxious and
desperate. We try to control future events and that
doesn’t work either. Eventually we seek escape in
addictive behaviour. Sobering up, we have to take the
leap of faith by handing over our will and our life to
our Higher Power. Am I ready to trust the process?

The Third Step Prayer is about handing over and
trusting the process: This simple prayer has
brought relief to thousands of addicted people,
regardless of their religious or non-religious views.
As I say the prayer and feel my burden easing, I
know that the process has begun.